Is this a joke coming true?

This is what occurred in my mind when I happened to come across the following news item (excerpt) in today’s Kolkata Newsline:

Kolkata has yet another reason to celebrate – the city has been judged as the second best in the world by the World Leadership Forum, London in the category of “urban renewal”.

Apparently, Kolkata was shortlisted along with 3 other metropolises, Kansas City (USA), Manchester (UK) and St. Louis (USA), and it emerged second in the category. Rubbing my eyes in disbelief, I carefully re-read the article if indeed what it has published is true.

Yes it is, but with a small twist. And that comes in the last line of the report. Which is Kolkata has been adjudged the second best city in terms of urban renewal projects.

The picture now becomes clear. Starting from a lowly base of urban facilities, Kolkata has many plans in the pipeline to spruce up the look and feel of the city. They are yet to happen, and going by past experience, it perhaps is not wrong to be skeptical as to whether all those planned and being planned will be lucky to see the light of the day.

Assuming they do, it’ll then be the time to celebrate Kolkata’s new image. As of now, life being so difficult at times in the city, any talk about its urban renewal model is nothing less than a cruel joke.

A typical Kolkata slum – long way to go! [Picture source]